So what do you do when you're finally seated in the examining room waiting for your turn with the doctor? When the doctor is my chatty orthodpaedic surgeon with a P.A. system in his voice box, I listen.
Yesterday, my doctor told the patient in the room to my right to take a double dose of vitamin B6 every day to greatly improve a mild case of carpel tunnel. He explained that B6 is a soluble vitamin and gets flushed out of the body, so you can't overdose on it.
In the room to my left, he told the patient to buy a support brace at a Walgreen's or CVS pharmacy. The braces are cheaper than at a medical supply store, and the pharmacies have a better selection.
When he came into my room and looked at my MRI pictures, he showed me the large cyst inside the back of my knee and the place where my knee is damaged, which explains why I'm in pain. I opted to try again to impress some Universe entity to heal my knee in lieu of surgery. I can be so impressively positive to attract my Good! You'll see!
He also told me that the growth he removed from my thumb in March, which has now grown back, is likely cancerous and needs to be removed and sent to pathology. Yikes! I'm falling apart!
Pat saw them first--the support braces today in Walgreen's while we were waiting for my prescription for a sleep medication to be filled. It seems my body has decided to remain in a 24/7 state of vigilance, reducing me with my already-brillo pad personality into a red-eyed, fussy baby.
While we looked at the dozens of braces on display, I decided it might help me walk in a straight line if I wore a brace on my injured knee. My doctor was so right! The knee braces came in every size and style for every type of injury except mine. We guessed what size my knee was and decided on a long black support brace with steel sides and a hole in the front where my knee can peek out to see where it's going.
But then I couldn't just walk away from that wall full of braces! After all, I need a brace around my waist to support my aching back and braces for both hands to support my arthritic thumbs. My knee got messed up after I twisted my ankle, which still hurts, so I need a support for my ankle. I really need a cane, but then I'd still have to walk. Actually, I could forget the braces and cane if I could just glide around in a motorized wheelchair.
And then I remembered taking my slow-walking mother to the mall one day years ago to buy her an Easter dress. I was in a hurry, so I put her in a wheelchair so I could whizz her in and out of dozens of stores to find her the perfect dress. She was so embarrassed to be in a wheelchair, she asked me to please put a paper bag over her head in case we passed someone she knew.
That memory made me realize that while I'm perfectly comfortable telling friends that I have leukemia, knowing I still look healthy and vibrant (for my age!), I'm not emotionally ready to display any of my infirmities. I guess I don't hurt so much after all!
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